What motivated you to join the journalism club back in your freshman year?
When I first came to Portola as a freshman, I had no idea what I wanted to do. One of my most vivid memories of freshman year was a conversation I had with Mr. Pehrson. During one lunch, I walked up to him, introduced myself, and asked something about ‘How can I find my passion at Portola?’ He advised me to try everything and see what sticks. I did just that, joining five clubs for my freshman year. The Portola Pilot was the only one that resonated with me the most.
Could you describe what the experience of being in the club was freshman year? How was it different from the Portola Pilot production later on?
Being in the club was such a unique experience because at the time, no one really had any experience with journalism. We all had to learn together and grow together, so I think more than anything it was a time to try and fail and learn. Later on, when we got a hang of things, I could tell we all grew really strong in our work. In later years, we knew what we were doing and focused on improving our production. I think that, looking at the whole growth and progression of our journey, we have come so far.
Could you talk about the community experience of being in the Pilot. Maybe expand upon the friendships you’ve formed with the other four year members or just other members of the production in general.
Having been on the Pilot for four years, one of the most special parts about working on the Pilot is the community of students on the team. We all learned together, we all made our first issue together, and had the same challenges and celebrated our successes together. It’s not an individual thing; every action you take has an impact on the production as a whole, so that can be stressful if people don’t pull their weight, but more than that it’s incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to celebrate our successes together and celebrate each other’s achievements from the Pilot.
Could you talk about the relationship that you were able to form with Ms. Rapp and what she’s meant to you as a mentor and teacher?
Ms. Rapp has been with us since the beginning, and she’s helped guide us from the little ten-person club we were four years ago to a massive production today. I think that Ms. Rapp has been such an important figure in my own life because she’s helped me grow. She’s always the one who leaves edits on my articles, and she has a very sharp eye, and I think her greatest talent is pushing us to grow and helping us grow and just being there as a mentor for every student on the Pilot, and I just think that’s super valuable, and that’s one of the most important hands-on experiences I got in high school that taught me more than a lot of my traditional classes. It taught me certain values that you can’t learn in an ordinary classroom like leadership and plenty more.
What is your favorite memory from each year or if you don’t want to break it down by year, what are some of your favorite memories?
My favorite memory from working on the Pilot was definitely the moment we secured first place at the Orange County Write Offs for our entire publication and production. That was my senior year, and that was the moment that all of us, whether or not you were there for four years or one year, felt that all our hard work was validated. I know that we’ve been working really hard, and that our production is incredible. It was just a great moment to commemorate that, and it was a very special moment. One other thing I’ll miss is the days our print publication is ready because those are always the most fun -- I’ve always said this, it feels like Christmas morning. It’s like a present to just hold the final printed product, the fruit of all our hard work of the cycle. The feeling of having accomplished something as a team and the smell of newsprint in the journalism room to signify that is just incredible.
What would you say is your favorite story you’ve written, or maybe most memorable story?
There’s too many that stick out, but my most memorable interview was my freshman year when I wanted to interview Amanda Cooper, who is the first female editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Chronicle. I cold emailed her and asked her if I could interview her, and I was not expecting a response, but the next day she said sure, and this was such a big interview; it was actually one of my first interviews I’ve ever done, and I still admire how I was being bold and just reaching out to someone even if I didn’t expect them to respond.